如果你接受基督为你的上帝，你的救主，全天庭都会欢欣鼓舞（路加福音15:10）。接下来就是将您的决定告诉全世界。耶稣在约翰福音3章5节说，一个人需要受水和圣灵的洗，这是救恩过程的一部分。

圣经谈到一个埃塞俄比亚人正在阅读旧约先知以赛亚的书（使徒行传8:25-40），但不明白。一位天使告诉耶稣的门徒腓利，来帮助这个人了解以赛亚书 53 章所指的是谁。腓利告诉他耶稣的故事和祂对人类的爱。他解释了这些预言如何指向祂是人类的救主和主宰。埃塞俄比亚人渴望立刻将自己的生命献给耶稣。然后他看着腓利说：“看哪，这里有水！我受洗有什么妨碍呢？” （使徒行传8:36）。腓利只是告诉他，如果他相信，就可以受洗。

你需要有一定程度的理解才能受洗。你需要了解耶稣是谁，以及祂为你做了什么。简而言之，你需要了解福音。

受洗

“福音”这个词的意思是“好消息”。这是好消息，因为这意味着，凭着信心，无论你身负何罪，都可以在耶稣里得到赦免。就这样，石板被擦干净了，你在基督里成为了一个新人。于是，这种体验使您有资格受洗并加入一个志同道合的群体。

洗礼就像一场婚礼。这是一个人与上帝之间做出的公开承诺。它是象征性的。它意味着你旧生命和旧有生活方式的死去。你沉入水下就像埋入坟墓一样。然后你“在基督里”从水里上来。你进入一个新的生命，作为一个新造的人，就像第一次出生一样，但现在作为一个基督徒（罗马书6:1-14）。你的罪孽和罪恶的生命留在了水之坟墓。你现在加入了信而跟随耶稣的大家庭。

你是上帝之国的一部分，你就是教会。

耶稣提到了另一种洗礼。祂说你也必须受圣灵的洗。犹太人以前用水洗礼，但在耶稣来之前没有人提到过受圣灵的洗礼（马太福音3:11）。

圣灵的洗礼是何意？

圣灵

旧约（创世记1:1、2；撒母耳记下23:2；以西结书2:2）指出了圣灵的真义。然而，大多数人将上帝的灵等同于父上帝。直到耶稣降世，显明了父、子和圣灵之间的区别，没有人意识到上帝实际上是三位一体的（以弗所书3:4-6）。

这种教导实际上使一些经文有了意义，诸如创世记1:26，其中上帝说：“我们要照着我们的形象造人……”，以及创世记3:22，在那里上帝似乎在与祂自己进行对话。这也符合约翰一书4:8中上帝称自己就是爱。

爱不只是一种关于上帝的观念，而是三位一体的共存。他们为了对方自我牺牲、谦卑地把对方放在首位。这就是爱。

因此，耶稣在钉十字架前与祂的门徒在地上的最后一夜向他们讲述了三位一体的关系，并给他们希望的应许。祂谈到祂如何与父合而为一，父如何与祂合而为一（约翰福音17:21）。祂谈到祂将如何求父将圣灵赐给他们（约翰福音14:16）。祂谈到了祂与父同享的共有荣耀（约翰福音13:31、32）。然后祂说，希望所有在上帝之国里的人都能经历这种合而为一（约翰福音17:21）。三位一体的上帝持续在自我牺牲的爱中共同做工，祂们不断地互相荣耀（阅读约翰福音13-17章了解更多）。

然后耶稣告诉他们，当祂升到天上时，祂不会让他们成为孤儿/祂不会丢下他们不顾。祂会为他们差遣圣灵，借着圣灵，耶稣自己会常在他们里面（约翰福音 14:16-20）。即使当耶稣在天上工作、为被救赎的罪人预备地方，他们也将通过圣灵联系在一起。当耶稣即将升入云端、在天上垂顾祂的门徒时，祂吩咐他们回到城里，在楼上的房间里等候，直到他们领受圣灵的洗，因为他们要借着祂得着能力（使徒行传1:4-8)。

他们回到房间等待。他们祈祷，唱歌。然后突然间，百叶窗飞开，一阵风吹进来，圣灵像一团燃烧的火球出现在他们每个人的头顶上（使徒行传2:1-4）。这就是标志！他们已经接受了圣灵的洗礼。所以，他们跑到外面，开始向每个人诉说耶稣的事（你可以在使徒行传1-2中阅读整个故事）。

全心顺服

有时圣灵的洗礼是发生在我们受水洗礼之后；有时也会提前。它通常没有像使徒行传2章中那种实体化的表现。但它总是发生在你将生命交给耶稣作你的主宰和救主之后。这不仅仅是一种认知。这是心的臣服。耶稣说上帝正在寻找愿意用心灵和诚实敬拜祂的人（约翰福音4:24）。

受水和圣灵的两种洗礼都是必要的。有些人只会接受基督为他们的救主，而不会以祂为他们的主宰，也不会将自己的生命交托给祂。有些人会以耶稣为他们的主宰，并尝试去做祂教导他们的一切，但却不愿让祂的恩典将他们从缺陷中拯救出来。你必须做到这两点，让他成为你的救主和你的主宰。

上帝是我们的创造者，祂想在我们的生命中居首位。祂希望人们对祂的爱超过家人和朋友（马太福音10:37）。祂希望人们爱祂胜过爱生命中转瞬即逝的事物——金钱、权力、声威、名望。祂不是在寻找只想分给祂一点点控制权的人，祂想要人完全的降伏。事实上，祂鼓励人们在选择跟随祂之前先衡量一下跟随祂的代价！（路加福音14:27-35）。

重获新生

水的洗礼是一个单一的行为，一个声明，但圣灵的洗礼意味着祂应许与你同住（哥林多前书3:16; 6:19, 20）。只要你向祂敞开心扉，祂就会进入你的心思意念并住在你里面。

随着历史进程，上帝离与祂同行的子民都更近了一步。随着基督的死，以及祂在天上帐幕中的工作，上帝现在可以通过基督和圣灵住在我们每个人里面。祂离完全恢复这个世界的最终目标越来越近了。有时等待天国降临似乎很漫长，但总是值得的（罗马书8:22, 23）。

弟兄姐妹们，我们想通过本平台分享更多国外本会优质影像资料。因为人手有限，希望招募一些志同道合的主内同工，做英文视频字幕翻译，视频字幕合成制作，视频中文配音，配音对轨制作。有意者请留言输入“义工申请”。以马内利！

LESSON 8: OVERFLOW

The Basics

If you accept Christ as your Lord and Savior, all of heaven rejoices (Luke 15:10). The next step is to tell the world about your decision. Jesus says in John 3:5 that a person needs to be baptized by water and by the Holy Spirit as part of the salvation process.

The Bible talks about an Ethiopian reading the book of Isaiah, an Old Testament prophet (Acts 8:25-40), but doesn’t understand it. An angel tells Philip, one of Jesus’ disciples, to help this man to understand who Isaiah 53 is talking about. Philip tells him the story of Jesus and His love for humanity. He explains how these prophecies point to Him as the Savior and Lord of humanity. The Ethiopian desires right there to give his life to Jesus. He then looks at Philip and says, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” (Acts 8:36). Philip simply tells him that, if he believes, then he can be baptized.

There is a certain level of understanding that you need in order to be baptized. You need to understand who Jesus is and what He has done for you. You need, in short, to understand the gospel.

Baptism

The word “gospel” means “good news.”  It is good news because it means that, by faith, no matter what your sins are, you can have them forgiven in Jesus.  Just like that. The slate wiped clean, and you are a new person in Christ. And this experience then qualifies you to be baptized and to join in a community of like-minded people.

Baptism is like a marriage ceremony. It is a public commitment that a person makes between them and God. It is symbolic. It represents you dying to your old life and old way of living. You go down under the water as you would go into a grave. Then you come up out of the water “in Christ.” You come up into a new life, as a new creation, like being born for the very first time, but now as a Christian (Romans 6:1-14). Your sins and sinful life are left in the watery grave. You are now part of a community of people who believe in Jesus and follow Him. 

You are part of the kingdom of God. You are the church.

Jesus mentions another kind of baptism. He says that you must be baptized by the Holy Spirit, too. The Jews practiced baptism by water before, but no one had mentioned being baptized by the Holy Spirit before Jesus came (Matthew 3:11). 

What does it mean?

The Holy Spirit

The Old Testament (Genesis 1:1, 2; 2 Samuel 23:2; Ezekiel 2:2) pointed to the reality of the Holy Spirit. Most people, though, equated the Spirit of God with the Father. Until Jesus came and showed the difference between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, no one realized that God was actually three Persons in one (Ephesians 3:4-6).

This teaching actually made sense of texts like Genesis 1:26, where God says, “Let US make man in OUR image…” and Genesis 3:22, where it seems that God has a conversation amongst Himself. It also makes sense of the statement in 1 John 4:8, where God claims to be love.

Love isn’t just an idea of God; it is a shared reality among the Trinity. They are self-sacrificing toward each other, humbly putting each other first. This is love.

So, Jesus uses His last night on earth with His disciples before the cross to tell them all about the relationship of the Trinity and He promises them hope. He talks about how He is one with the Father and the Father is one with Him (John 17:21). He talks about how He will have the Father send the Holy Spirit to them (John 14:16). He talks about the reciprocal glory that He and the Father share (John 13:31, 32). Then He says that this oneness is His desire for all those in the Kingdom of God to experience (John 17:21). The Trinity continually work together in self-sacrificing love, and They constantly glorify each other (Read John 13-17 for more).

Then Jesus tells them that He will not leave them as orphans when He goes to heaven. He will send them the Holy Spirit, and through the Holy Spirit, Jesus Himself will be in them (John 14:16-20). Through the Holy Spirit, they will be connected, even though Jesus is in heaven working to prepare a place for redeemed sinners. As Jesus was ascending into the clouds and looking down on His disciples, He tells them to go back to the city and wait in the upper room until they are baptized with the Holy Spirit, because through Him they will receive power (Acts 1:4-8).

They go back to the room and wait. They pray and sing. Then all of a sudden, the shutters fly open and a wind rushes in, and the Holy Spirit appears upon each one as a flaming ball of fire above their heads (Acts 2:1-4). This was the sign! They had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. So, they run outside and start telling everyone about Jesus (You can read this entire story in Acts 1-2).

Total Surrender

Sometimes the baptism of the Holy Spirit comes after we are baptized by water; sometimes it comes before. It often doesn’t have a physical manifestation, as in Acts 2.  But it always comes after a surrender of your life to Jesus as your Lord and Savior. It is not just knowledge. It is a surrender of the heart. Jesus says that God is looking for people who will worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).

Both baptisms, by water by the Spirit, are necessary. Some people will receive Christ only as their Savior but will not make Him their Lord and surrender their lives to Him. Some people will make Jesus their Lord and try to do all He tells them but won’t allow His grace to save them from their deficiencies. You must do both, allow Him to be your Savior and your Lord.

God is our Creator, and He wants to be first in our lives. He wants people to put the love of Him before their family and friends (Matthew 10:37). He wants people who love Him more than they love the fleeting things of life—money, power, prestige, fame. He isn’t looking for people who want to give Him only a little control. He wants total surrender. In fact, He encourages people to count the cost of following Him before they choose to do so! (Luke 14:27-35).

Restoration

The baptism of water is a single act, a statement, but the baptism of the Holy Spirit is where He promises to dwell with you (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19, 20). He will come into your heart and mind and dwell in you as long as you are open to Him.

With each major step in history, God has been taking one step closer to dwelling within His people. With the death of Christ, and His work in the Heavenly Tabernacle, God can now dwell within each of us through Christ and the Holy Spirit. He is getting closer to His final goal of entire restoration. Sometimes the wait for heaven seems long, but it is going to be worth it (Romans 8:22, 23).

More materials at: https://www.apictureofgod.com/overflow